WASHINGTON, April 10. /TASS/. US senators agree that it is necessary to expand dialogue between the United States and Russia, chairman of the Russian State Duma's committee on financial markets Anatoly Aksakov told TASS on Tuesday.
Aksakov earlier visited Washington to attend the parliamentary conference of the World Bank. During his visit, he met with Republican Senators Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) and Rand Paul (Kentucky). "They agree that there needs to be a more active dialogue in order to ease tensions in bilateral relstions. They also agree that easing tensions in bilateral relations will lead to easing tensions on the international arena as well," Aksakov noted.
The Duma member described the meeting as productive. The sides discussed the most pressing issues in relations between Moscow and Washington. "Of course, we should not focus only on them but rather spend more time talking about matters that require a common solution and allow us to reach compromise," Aksakov said.
"We did not discuss sanctions, I only mentioned that restrictive measures are useless," the Russian official added. "We mostly talked about the importance of maintining dialogue and spheres in which we need to work together, such as security, fight against terrorism, cyber security," he explained.
"Our positions on many issues are different, but we share an understanding that we need to continue dialogue on issues of mutual interest. Complex issues should be gradually resolved through long-term and comprehsnive dialogue," Aksakov noted.
The Duma member added that US senators criticized Russia on several matters. "They have a different outlook on many issues, especially when it comes to Ukraine," he added.